A
minivan pulls into an inspection area at the Canadian
border crossing in Lewiston, New York .

Special
RegistrationFrom Gotham GazetteBangladesh, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait
have been added to the list of countries whose male
citizens must register with the Immigration and Naturalization
Service if they intend to stay in the United States.

Canada
BoundFrom Gotham GazetteAttempting to avoid registration and the risk of
being detained and deported, thousands of undocumented
Pakistani and Arab immigrants in New York are fleeing
to Canada.

Rumor
Has ItFrom Daily KhabrainMany Pakistanis waiting in line for registration
left the office and went back home after hearing a rumor
that Pakistan had been removed from the special registration
list.

new rule by the Immigration and Naturalization Service requires
male citizens from 25 countries who reside in the United States
to register with the agency. How will this new requirement
affect immigrants in New York City? Commissioner for the Office
of Immigrant Affairs Sayu Bhojwani will answer your questions
about this issue and any others you may have, as well as guide
you through the improvements in the web
site of the Office of Immigrant Affairs, in Gotham Gazette's
online chat
on Friday, February 28, at 2pm.

Within weeks of its implementation, the special
registration requirement has turned many lives upside
down. "All of a sudden we got a lot of work to do," said immigration
attorney Jo Anne C. Adlerstein. Some immigrants take the registration
as just another time-consuming bureaucratic chore, but many
are afraid that they will be detained if they register. (Gotham
Gazette).

Many undocumented Pakistanis have avoided the registration
and fled to Canada (Gotham
Gazette) but this could become more difficult because
U.S. and Canadian officials are looking for a way to tighten
border security (Associated Press).

Even with a massive turnout for the registration program,
the immigration office in New York did not add more staff.
"They've had to pull people working on adjustments of status
and other projects," said attorney Christina Labrie. "Now
applications that take two or three years to process will
take even more. (The
Village Voice) "

Backlog problem aside, the immigration agency will start
reducing fees for processing applicants for such items as
work permits and green cards. "You could look on this as a
'going out of business' sale," said one INS official
referring to the move to the Homeland Security Department.
(Washington Post).

In this February edition of the Citizen, we look at an effort
to help undocumented immigrants who lost loved ones on 9/11,
housing problems in the Dominican community, a shortage of
Fujianese speaking social workers and why reading is the only
way to save your children. Also, articles from the Chinese,
Russian, Polish, Korean, Latino and Urdu press and
much more.

Living
in LimboFrom Gotham GazetteSome immigrant families who lost loved ones on September
11th are faced with the extra burden of worrying about being
deported. State and federal officials are trying to present
themselves as allies to these New Yorkers.

Anti-American?From JoongAngA Korean-American organization issued a resolution urging
Koreans to hold back on their anti-American rally. "It is
not right for some Korean-Americans to take advantage of the
anti-American tones in Korea to promote anti-American protests
here," said one member.

Lion
dance and firecrakers are integral parts of Chinese
New Year's celebration.

The
Year Of The GoatFrom Sing Tao DailyThe Chinese community lobbied for permission to
use fireworks again during the Chinese New Year, which
would reverse a ban placed by the Giuliani administration.
The importance of firecrackers in the new year celebration
is reflected in the old Chinese saying: "One crack gets
rid of the old year."

Start
Reading, KidsFrom Russian BazaarWith all of the images from TV, magazines and commercials,
children in America will turn into a homogeneous mass, argues
a Russian columnist. The only way to escape this is through
reading, he writes.

Number
OneFrom El DiarioBecause of massive immigration and high birth rates, Hispanics
now surpass African-Americans as the largest minority group
in the United States.

Fans
Lose Jobs From HoyNew York hospital workers lost their jobs after they visited
the queen of salsa, Celia Cruz, in her sick bed.

False
Job AdsFrom World JournalSome classified ads placed in Chinese newspapers turned
out to be scams to trick new immigrants.

The
Rising Cost Of LivingFrom Dominican TimesMany Dominicans cannot afford apartments that meet basic
living standards, but there are ways to improve your chance
of finding affordable housing.

Moving
OutFrom Nowy DziennikMany Poles have moved out of Greenpoint to Ridgewood where
rents are cheaper and more brick houses available. The layers
of bricks covering the walls of houses in Ridgewood remind
Poles of Europe, said one resident.

Increasing
Crimes In FlushingFrom JoongAngA Korean reporter argues that there has been a surge in
racial crimes against Chinese and Koreans in Flushing.

We call this section The Citizen
because all New Yorkers are citizens of the city, whatever their
federal immigration status. We thus restore the word "citizen"
to its root in the word "city."

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